Senate Bill S6052

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S6052

SPONSOR: MURRAY
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the education law, in relation to establishing the
"pupil privacy act"

 
PURPOSE:

To enact the "Pupil Privacy Act" which codifies in state law a parental
right to notification and opting their child out of participating in
surveys distributed by schools in New York when such surveys relate to
protected private and personal information.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 amends the Education Law by adding a new Article 18 enacting
the Pupil Privacy Act by establishing a new Section 850, Section 851,
and Section 852.

Section 850 creates the title for this act.
              

Section 851 applies the bill to all types of schools in New York state
providing kindergarten through twelfth grade education to students, and
it defines "Student Information Protected Survey" to mean any survey
that contains personalized and specific questions related to a student
or their parent or guardian's personal attitudes, beliefs, or experi-
ences in any of six private and personal subject areas.

Section 852 requires schools to notify parents/guardians of the upcoming
survey and to give instructions to parents of how to opt their child out
of taking the survey, and it allows parents/guardians the ability to opt
their child out up until the date and time at which the survey is given
out.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

This bill will codify into state law some rights of parents/guardians as
authorized in provisions of the federal Protection of Pupil Rights
Amendment, which requires among other things, parental consent and an
opportunity for parents/guardians to opt out students before they are
required to submit a "protected information survey" in several protected
areas of information including, but not limited to, areas of health
screenings; sex behavior or attitudes; mental or psychological problems
of the student or student's family; religious practices, affiliations or
beliefs of the student or student's parents.

When school administration or faculty seek to gather data on student's
private information, they do so oftentimes by information gathering in
the form of student surveys, directly to students. These survey ques-
tions relate to issues that federal law recognizes as protected and
private information.

The intention of this bill is to establish similarly in state law the
right of parents/guardians to protect a student's and their family's
private and personal information.


It is important not to intrude into a student's personal matters or
family life when it crosses the line of protected, private information.
It is not appropriate, nor legal under federal law for a student to be
subject to answering such questions without the foreknowledge and
consent of their parents/guardians.

Subjecting students without parental knowledge or authorization to the
type of private subject matter these survey questions can cover on
matters that are extremely personal, and, in many cases very explicit,
can cause students more confusion on sensitive topics, can be a mental
health trigger that can disrupt their ability to learn and feel safe in
a school setting. Further, it is an inappropriate role for school staff
to take. School staff should not be exposing students to the private and
sometimes even explicit subject matter covered in these types of survey
questions without parental consent.

This bill does not impede the ability of school staff such as mental
health professionals, social workers, or any other mandated reporters to
meet and counsel students one-on-one, should they feel that any student
needs attention, assistance or support, or should they suspect that
their health, mental health, life experiences or family dynamics may be
affecting the student's ability to learn or should the school staff have
concerns about the student's mental health or safety.

This bill simply requires that extremely private, protected information
from students on personal and sometimes explicit topics shall be gath-
ered only with the consent of the parents or guardians, who are best
positioned and entrusted to care for their child, and who know best
whether taking the survey questions could negatively impact the ability
of the student to have success in the school setting.

This bill is necessary to ensure that parents have the right and oppor-
tunity to opt their child out of taking such survey should they deem it
not in their child's best interest.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

This is a new bill

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediate.